TAIWAN
GEOGRAPHY
Total area: 35,980 km2; land area: 32,260 km2; includes the
Pescadores, Matsu, and Quemoy
Comparative area: slightly less than three times the size of
Connecticut
Land boundaries: none
Coastline: 1,448 km
Maritime claims:
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm;
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Disputes: involved in complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with
China, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam; Paracel Islands occupied by
China, but claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan; Japanese-administered
Senkaku-shoto (Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu Tai) claimed by China and Taiwan
Climate: tropical; marine; rainy season during southwest monsoon
(June to August); cloudiness is persistent and extensive all year
Terrain: eastern two-thirds mostly rugged mountains; flat to gently
rolling plains in west
Natural resources: small deposits of coal, natural gas, limestone,
marble, and asbestos
Land use: arable land 24%; permanent crops 1%; meadows and pastures
5%; forest and woodland 55%; other 15%; irrigated 14%
Environment: subject to earthquakes and typhoons
PEOPLE
Population: 20,658,702 (July 1991), growth rate 1.1% (1991)
Birth rate: 16 births/1,000 population (1991)
Death rate: 5 deaths/1,000 population (1991)
Net migration rate: NEGL migrants/1,000 population (1991)
Infant mortality rate: 6 deaths/1,000 live births (19901
Life expectancy at birth: 72 years male, 78 years female (1991)
Total fertility rate: 1.8 children born/woman (1991)
Nationality: noun--Chinese (sing., pl.); adjective--Chinese
Ethnic divisions: Taiwanese 84%, mainland Chinese 14%, aborigine 2%
Religion: mixture of Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist 93%,
Christian 4.5%, other 2.5%
Language: Mandarin Chinese (official); Taiwanese and Hakka dialects
also used
Literacy: 91.2% (male NA%, female NA%) age 15 and over can
read and write (1990)
Labor force: 7,900,000; industry and commerce 53%, services 22%,
agriculture 15.6%, civil administration 7% (1989)
Organized labor: 1,300,000 or about 18.4% (government controlled)
(1983)
@m2Administration
Long-form name: none
Type: one-party presidential regime; opposition political parties
legalized in March, 1989
Capital: Taipei
Administrative divisions: the authorities in Taipei claim to be the
government of all China; in keeping with that claim, the central
administrative divisions include 2 provinces (sheng, singular and plural)
and 2 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural)--Fu-chien (some 20
offshore islands of Fujian Province including Quemoy and Matsu),
Kao-hsiung*, T'ai-pei*, and Taiwan (the island of Taiwan and the
Pescadores islands); the more commonly referenced administrative
divisions are those of Taiwan Province--16 counties (hsien, singular and
plural), 5 municipalities* (shih, singular and plural), and 2 special
municipalities** (chuan-shih, singular and plural); Chang-hua, Chia-i,
Chia-i*, Chi-lung*, Hsin-chu, Hsin-chu*, Hua-lien, I-lan, Kao-hsiung,
Kao-hsiung**, Miao-li, Nan-t'ou, P'eng-hu, P'ing-tung, T'ai-chung,
T'ai-chung*, T'ai-nan, T'ai-nan*, T'ai-pei, T'ai-pei**, T'ai-tung,
T'ao-yuan, and Yun-lin; the provincial capital is at
Chung-hsing-hsin-ts'un; note--Taiwan uses the Wade-Giles system
for romanization
Constitution: 25 December 1947, presently undergoing revision
Legal system: based on civil law system; accepts compulsory ICJ
jurisdiction, with reservations
National holiday: National Day (Anniversary of the Revolution),
10 October (1911)
Executive branch: president, vice president, premier of the
Executive Yuan, vice premier of the Executive Yuan, Executive Yuan
Legislative branch: unicameral Legislative Yuan
Judicial branch: Judicial Yuan
Leaders:
Chief of State--President LI Teng-hui (since 13 January 1988);
Vice President LI Yuan-zu (since 20 May 1990);
Head of Government--Premier (President of the Executive Yuan)
HAO Po-ts'un (since 2 May 1990); Vice Premier (Vice President of the
Executive Yuan) SHIH Ch'i-yang (since NA July 1988)
Political parties and leaders:
Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), LI Teng-hui, chairman;
Democratic Socialist Party and Young China
Party controlled by Kuomintang;
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP);
Labor Party;
27 other minor parties
Suffrage: universal at age 20
Elections:
President--last held 21 March 1990 (next to be held March 1996);
results--President LI Teng-hui was reelected by the National Assembly;
Vice President--last held 21 March 1990
(next to be held March 1996);
results--LI Yuan-zu was elected by the National Assembly;
Legislative Yuan--last held 2 December 1989 (next to be held
December 1992);
results--KMT 65%, DPP 33%, independents 2%;
seats--(304 total, 102 elected) KMT 78, DPP 21, independents 3;
National Assembly:--originally elected in November 1947 (last
supplementary election in December 1986; Assembly will be completely
reelected in December 1991)
Member of: expelled from UN General Assembly and Security
Council on 25 October 1971 and withdrew on same date from other
charter-designated subsidiary organs; expelled from IMF/World Bank group
April/May 1980; seeking to join GATT; attempting to retain membership in
INTELSAT; suspended from IAEA in 1972, but still allows IAEA controls
over extensive atomic development; AsDB, ICC, ICFTU, IOC
Diplomatic representation: none; unofficial commercial and cultural
relations with the people of the US are maintained through a private
instrumentality, the Coordination Council for North American Affairs
(CCNAA) with headquarters in Taipei and field offices in Washington and
10 other US cities with all addresses and telephone numbers NA;
US--unofficial commercial and cultural relations with the people of
Taiwan are maintained through a private institution, the American
Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which has offices in Taipei at #7 Lane 134,
telephone 886 (2) 709-2000, and in Kao-hsiung at #2 Chung Cheng 3d
Road, telephone 886 (7) 224-0154 through 0157, and the American Trade
Center at Room 3207 International Trade Building, Taipei World Trade
Center, 333 Keelung Road Section 1, Taipei 10548, telephone 886 (2)
720-1550
Flag: red with a dark blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner
bearing a white sun with 12 triangular rays
ECONOMY
Overview: Taiwan has a dynamic capitalist economy with considerable
government guidance of investment and foreign trade and partial
government ownership of some large banks and industrial firms. Real
growth in GNP has averaged about 9% a year during the past three decades.
Export growth has been even faster and has provided the impetus for
industrialization. Agriculture contributes about 4% to GNP, down from 35%
in 1952. Taiwan currently ranks as number 13 among major trading
countries. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being
replaced with more capital- and technology-intensive industries.
GNP: $150.8 billion, per capita $7,380; real growth rate
5.2% (1990)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 4.4% (1990)
Unemployment rate: 1.7% (1990)
Budget: revenues $30.3 billion; expenditures $30.1 billion,
including capital expenditures of $NA (FY91 est.)
Exports: $67.2 billion (f.o.b., 1990);
commodities--textiles 15.6%, electrical machinery 18.2%, general
machinery and equipment 14.8%, basic metals and metal products 7.8%,
foodstuffs 1.7%, plywood and wood products 1.6% (1989);
partners--US 36.2%, Japan 13.7% (1989)
Imports: $54.7 billion (c.i.f., 1990);
commodities--machinery and equipment 15.3%, crude oil 5%, chemical
and chemical products 11.1%, basic metals 13.0%, foodstuffs 2.2% (1989);
partners--Japan 31%, US 23%, FRG 5% (1989)
External debt: $1.1 billion (December 1990 est.)
Industrial production: growth rate 4.7% (1990 est.)
Electricity: 17,000,000 kW capacity; 68,000 million kWh produced,
3,310 kWh per capita (1990)
Industries: electronics, textiles, chemicals, clothing,
food processing, plywood, sugar milling, cement, shipbuilding, petroleum
Agriculture: accounts for 4% of GNP and 16% of labor force
(includes part-time farmers); heavily subsidized sector; major
crops--vegetables, rice, fruit, tea; livestock--hogs, poultry, beef,
milk, cattle; not self-sufficient in wheat, soybeans, corn; fish catch
increasing, 1.4 million metric tons (1988)
Economic aid: US, including Ex-Im (FY46-82), $4.6 billion; Western
(non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-88), $445
million
Currency: New Taiwan dollar (plural--dollars);
1 New Taiwan dollar (NT$) = 100 cents
Exchange rates: New Taiwan dollars per US$1--27.2 (January 1991),
27.243 (November 1990), 26.407 (1989), 28.589 (1988), 31.845 (1987),
37.838 (1986), 39.849 (1985)
Fiscal year: 1 July-30 June
COMMUNICATIONS
Railroads: about 4,600 km total track with 1,075 km common
carrier lines and 3,525 km industrial lines; common carrier lines
consist of the 1.067-meter gauge 708 km West Line and the 367 km East
Line; a 98.25 km South Link Line connection is under construction; common
carrier lines owned by the government and operated by the Railway
Administration under Ministry of Communications; industrial lines owned
and operated by government enterprises
Highways: 20,041 km total; 17,095 km bituminous or concrete,
2,371 km crushed stone or gravel, 575 km graded earth
Pipelines: 615 km refined products, 97 km natural gas
Ports: Kao-hsiung, Chi-lung (Keelung), Hua-lien, Su-ao, T'ai-tung
Merchant marine: 226 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 6,557,167
GRT/9,153,646 DWT; includes 1 short-sea passenger, 52 cargo, 17
refrigerated cargo, 75 container, 15 petroleum, oils, and lubricants
(POL) tanker, 3 combination ore/oil, 1 specialized tanker, 62 bulk
Airports: 38 total, 37 usable; 33 with permanent-surface runways;
3 with runways over 3,659 m; 16 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 8 with
runways 1,220-2,439 m
Telecommunications: best developed system in Asia outside of Japan;
7,800,000 telephones; extensive microwave transmission links on east and
west coasts; stations--91 AM, 23 FM, 15 TV (13 relays); 8,620,000
radios; 6,386,000 TVs (5,680,000 color, 706,000 monochrome);
earth stations--1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT; submarine cable links to Japan (Okinawa), the Philippines,
Guam, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Australia, Middle East, and
Western Europe
DEFENSE FORCES
Branches: Army, Navy (including Marines), Air Force, Taiwan
Garrison Command, Ministry of National Defense
Manpower availability: males 15-49, 5,874,345; 4,577,294 fit for
military service; about 187,807 currently reach military age (19)
annually